


For Now

by orphan_account



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:36:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first warm day of the year, and Fauchelevent suggests they relax.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [duckwhatduck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckwhatduck/gifts).



Fauchelevent watched as Madeleine leaned against the table in the centre of their small hut, and frowned as he heard Madeleine’s exhausted sigh. When Madeleine did not straighten, Fauchelevent approached him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Madeleine started, but gave a faint smile as he looked at Fauchelevent.

“We’re too old for this work,” Fauchelevent said.

“Yes, we are.”

“Springtime means more work,” Fauchelevent continued, “but it should get easier in a few weeks. Less work than today, at least.”

Madeleine nodded at him and gave another weak smile. The day was unseasonably warm, one of the first warm days of the year, and Madeleine and his daughter had arrived in the dead of winter. Fauchelevent hoped the warm weather would ease their worries, at least a little. Madeleine seemed even more quiet than he had been in Montreuil, and, though Fauchelevent saw Cosette only rarely, she had always seemed distant to him.

Madeleine finally stood, but Fauchelevent noted the grimace on his face as he rolled his neck. He turned toward Fauchelevent. “Back to work?”

“Why don’t we take a break for the rest of the day?” Fauchelevent said, surprising even himself. “There isn’t so much left to do now, and it’s warm today. We can do the rest tomorrow.”

Madeleine gave him a concerned look, then sighed. “I am quite sore,” he conceded.

Fauchelevent smiled; he imagined Madeleine would insist on finishing the day’s work, but was thrilled at the prospect of spending a quiet afternoon with him. “I need to go into the city for a few things, but after that,” he started.

“After that, we can relax.” Madeleine finished.

-

Fauchelevent returned to the convent to see Madeleine and Cosette sitting under a shady tree, in a quiet corner of the yard. Cosette had her doll -- she always did, really -- and was trying to braid its hair. Madeleine was sitting close to her, helping her, though the effort seemed fruitless. Fauchelevent found himself wondering where he had learned to braid hair, though it seemed that part of Cosette’s difficulty to learn stemmed from Madeleine not quite remembering how to do it either.

Cosette noticed him before Madeleine did. “Hello Monsieur Fauchelevent!” she chimed, brighter than Fauchelevent had seen her previously.

“Mademoiselle,” Fauchelevent returned.

“Join us,” Madeleine said, and Fauchelevent set down a small box on the grass, before sitting down next to them in the shade. The bell around his knee jingled, and he thought he saw Cosette smile at the noise.

“I passed a bakery on my way back,” Fauchelevent said, picking up the small box. “Would you like a cake, Cosette?”

Fauchelevent watched her turn to Madeleine first, who nodded at her before Cosette shot out one of her small hands to grab one of the pastries in the box.

“Cosette,” Madeleine warned, slowly grabbing a pastry for himself.

“Thank you,” Cosette managed, crumbs of the pastry in her mouth falling down onto her dress. Madeleine was frowning at her, but Fauchelevent couldn’t help but smile. Soon Madeleine smiled too, looking affectionately at Cosette before turning to Fauchelevent.

“Thank you,” Madeleine repeated.

Fauchelevent shook his head and smiled, leaning back in the grass.

They stayed like this for some time, relaxing quietly and enjoying the warm day as they ate their pastries, until Madeleine told Cosette that it was time for her to leave.

“Yes, papa,” she said quietly, brushing off the dirt from her dress as she stood up. She hugged Madeleine tightly, and Fauchelevent could see the grin forming on Madeleine’s face. “Today was so nice,” she continued, “I hope it stays like this!”

“Me as well, Cosette,” Madeleine replied, giving her a last quick hug.

-

Madeleine’s happiness was infectious. He seemed rejuvenated by Cosette’s brightness that afternoon, and it was lifting Fauchelevent’s spirits in turn. He realized that despite knowing each other for several years in Montreuil and living together for several months at the convent, he had never seen Madeleine take any time for himself. His smiles seemed to come easier today, and they suited him; he looked younger and more full of life than Fauchelevent would have imagined possible.

As the sun was setting that evening, they found themselves again beneath that tree, sharing a bottle of wine Fauchelevent felt they had earned.

They had been sitting in silence when Madeleine suddenly spoke up.

“I worry for her,” he said, so quiet that Fauchelevent might have assumed he hadn’t said anything, but Madeleine’s face had become grave.

“For Cosette?”

“If I’m being a good father to her, if this is what she wants. If she’s happy.” Madeleine sighed.

Madeleine didn’t often confide in Fauchelevent, and Fauchelevent was at a loss for what to say. He had questions he wanted to ask, about this man who had come from nowhere to make a fortune out of nothing, of this child nobody had heard of while he was mayor. Instead, he simply reached out and took Madeleine’s hand in his own, squeezing it.

Madeleine squeezed back, surprising Fauchelevent, but sighed again as he looked up at the quickly darkening sky.

“It looks like it will rain tomorrow,” Madeleine announced.

“Perhaps,” Fauchelevent agreed, “but it is nice right now, and Cosette seems happy. Forgive me, monsieur -- I do not know her -- perhaps it is none of my concern. But today it’s warm, and things are good. It might last, it might not, but there is no use in worrying about that now.”

Madeleine simply looked at him, until Fauchelevent turned away.

“Forgive me,” he muttered.

But Madeleine simply squeezed Fauchelevent’s hand, still held in his, before bringing it to his lips and kissing lightly. “Thank you,” Madeleine said quietly, “for today. For this, for now.” He turned toward Fauchelevent and kissed his lips lightly, before sitting back and looking back up at the sky.

Fauchelevent just smiled, leaning in closer to Madeleine until their arms were entwined above their still held hands.

 

**Author's Note:**

> metaphors about spring are really cool and original
> 
> also i'm not sure timelines? but they arrive in the middle of winter in the 2012 movie so let's just roll w that


End file.
